The deadline of the Games gave government officials an event to forcibly accelerate the modernization of Chinese society. World class architectural design and construction standards have guided the building of Olympic venues. Airports, highways and other infrastructure have been upgraded not only in Beijing but in all the cities where Olympic events will be held. Chinese pride and ambition demand that they be the best ever, no matter what the cost, and that Chinese athletes win more medals than any other country.But when the athletes have gone home, and the polluting power plants come back on line, what will remain beyond the memories and good impressions? The answer is brands. 2008 will not merely be the year of the Olympics. It will be the year of brands. Not only brand China being promoted on the world stage, but also the commercial brands of Olympic sponsors driving home their brand advantage in the domestic Chinese market.

The Chinese are already in love with brands. How can you stand out in a nation of 1.3 billion with high population mobility? Young Chinese are known by the brands they can afford and the brands they display. Via fashion accessories, cell phones and now cars, brand choices are stratifying a hitherto unified communist society. The billions of daily purchases of trusted brand names are an increasing part of the social glue that holds Chinese society together.

The Chinese are being subjected to a deluge of brand advertising by Western multinational brands seeking to expand their geographic reach beyond the major cities to the outlying provinces. Olympics-related advertising by these brands could exceed $6 billion. Most of this advertising is not directly promoting brand features and attributes. Rather, it aims to wrap the Western brand in the cloak of Chinese nationalism. From Volkswagen's "honk for China" campaign to Pepsi's limited edition of red colored cans accompanying the slogan "Go red for China", Western brands are taking the "act local" mantra to a new extreme. Few brands are implementing a unified global campaign for this Olympics. Instead, they are typically running two campaigns, one for China, another for the rest of the world.

The same applies to Chinese brands such as Lenovo and Haier that are seeking to leverage Olympics sponsorships to enhance their global stature. Lenovo, which acquired IBM's PC business three years ago, has invested around $100 million as the first Chinese company to become a global sponsor of the Olympics. Through doing so, Lenovo expects to increase its brand reputation and market share in China as much as in the rest of the world.

But where will this vast consumption of brands lead? Choice is good. Engaging with brands is fun. Media diversity, fueled by brand advertising, is welcome. But one can't help wondering whether too many Chinese are consumers first, and citizens second. Perhaps more economic freedom will lead, as many hope, to increased demand for political freedom. Or will the fruits of a growing economy and the passion for consumption be the distraction, the narcotic that postpones the day of political reckoning for the still dominant Communist party?

FOREVER BRUCE LEE

About Me

Great Minds Have Similar Thoughts

Champions aren't made in gyms, champions are made from something they have deep inside them - a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have last-minute stamina, they have to be a little faster, they have to have the skill and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill.-Muhammad AliI'll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there's evidence of any thinking going on inside it.- Terry PratchettNot to be absolutely certain is, I think, one of the essential things in rationality.- Bertrand RussellWhat we think, or what we know, or what we believe is, in the end, of little consequence. The only consequence is what we do.Sometimes what's right isn't as important as what's profitable.- Trey Parker and Matt StoneThere are only two kinds of people who are really fascinating: people who know absolutely everything, and people who know absolutely nothing.- Oscar WildeSometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, "Where have I gone wrong?"/ Then a voice says to me, "This is going to take more than one night."- Charles M. SchulzThere is nothing worse than aggressive stupidity.- Johann Wolfgang von GoetheThe significance of man is that he is insignificant and is aware of it.- Carl BeckerA lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.- Mark Twain"If you know how to spend less than you get, you have the philosopher's stone." So said Benjamin Franklin more than 200 years ago. How much easier it is to be critical than to be correct.- Benjamin DisraeliOf course the game is rigged. Don't let that stop you--if you don't play, you can't win.- Robert HeinleinAbility will never catch up with the demand for it.- Malcolm ForbesNo man remains quite what he was when he recognizes himself.- Thomas MannNo man needs a vacation so much as the man who has just had one.- Elbert HubbardThere is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is in having lots to do and not doing it.- Mary Wilson LittleBooks to the ceiling,/ Books to the sky,/ My pile of books is a mile high./ How I love them! How I need them!/ I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.- Arnold LobelLeif Ostling said in a statement that his comments about Germany had been "interpreted in a way that was not intended."If a man will begin with certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts he shall end in certainties.- Sir Francis Bacon"It's not the voting that's democracy, it's the counting."- Tom StoppardElections are won by men and women chiefly because most people vote against somebody rather than for somebody.- Franklin P. AdamsInvention is the mother of necessity.- Thorstein VeblenDon't try to solve serious matters in the middle of the night.- Philip K. Dick